Georgia in 2004

Presidents Nino Burjanadze and, from January 4, Mikhail Saakashvili assisted by Prime Minister (titled Minister of State until February 17) Zurab Zhvania

Mikhail Saakashvili (seeBiographies), who led the “Rose Revolution” that culminated in the ouster of Pres. Eduard Shevardnadze in November 2003, was elected Georgian president on Jan. 4, 2004, with over 96% of the vote in a ballot deemed fair by the international community. The parliament immediately scheduled for March 28 repeat elections for the 150 parliament mandates allocated under the proportional representation system; the outcome of the Nov. 2, 2003, voting for those seats had been annulled on November 25. The ruling National Movement–Democratic Front bloc polled 67%, which gave it an overall majority of 136 seats in the 235-member legislature. On February 17 the parliament confirmed Zurab Zhvania as the new prime minister; in a cabinet reshuffle in June, Interior Minister Giorgi Baramidze was named defense minister, but he was later replaced by his successor as interior minister, Irakli Okruashvili. Saakashvili appointed former French diplomat Salome Zourabichvili foreign minister and Russian entrepreneur Kakha Bendukidze economy minister.

At his inauguration on January 25, Saakashvili pledged to crack down on corruption and restore central government control over the breakaway regions of Ajaria, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia. Under pressure, Ajarian leader Aslan Abashidze agreed to hold parliamentary elections in March, but he was forced to step down and leave Batumi, the province’s main city, for Moscow on May 5 after Tbilisi emboldened the local police and population to turn against him. Saakashvili named former fellow student Levan Varshalomidze to head the new Ajarian administration; Varshalomidze was confirmed as the region’s prime minister following local elections on June 20. In late May, Georgia deployed Interior Ministry forces and armour to the internal border with South Ossetia, triggering a standoff that led to an exchange of fire on July 9–10 and then an abortive assault by Georgian forces on August 19 in which 16 Georgian servicemen were killed. Agreement was reached on a cease-fire and the withdrawal of all unauthorized troops from the conflict zone, but it was implemented only after a meeting between Prime Minister Zhvania and South Ossetian Pres. Eduard Kokoity on November 5. Elections in Abkhazia on October 3 for a successor to Pres. Vladislav Ardzinba resulted in a standoff between Sergey Bagapsh, officially declared the winner, and Prime Minister Raul Khadjimba. On December 6 they agreed under pressure from Russia to participate jointly in a repeat election in January.

Georgia’s GDP grew by 9.5% during the first six months of 2004. The International Monetary Fund decided on June 4 to resume its assistance to Georgia; on June 16 international donors pledged $1 billion in financial aid. In June the EU included Georgia, together with Armenia and Azerbaijan, in its European Neighbourhood Policy.